Gas turbine engines and other types of power generation equipment use a large volume of intake air to support the combustion process. Various types of inlet air filtration systems thus may be used upstream of the compressor. Impure air latent with dust particles, salt, debris, and other types of contaminants may damage the compressor blades, plug cooling passages, and damage other types of turbine components via corrosion, erosion, fouling, and the like. Such damage may reduce the life expectancy and performance of the gas turbine engine and other types of power generation equipment. To avoid these problems, the inlet air generally passes through a series of filters and screens to assist in removing the contaminants before they enter into the compressor.
One type of air inlet filtration system includes the use of a pulse filtration system. A pulse filtration system generally includes a number of pulse filters with a porous media filter element in communication with a source of compressed air. The pulse filtration system may be self-cleaning via a brief reverse pulse of the compressed air. The reverse pulse flexes the porous media filter element so as to dislodge the accumulated debris and other contaminants on the surface thereof.
The overall lifetime of the filters may be of concern, particularly in areas with high dust loading. Replacing the filters carries a cost in hardware, in material, as well as in lost power generation output. This reduced lifetime may be mitigated somewhat by the use of an oversized filter house. Such an oversized filter house, however, includes at least an initial increase in overall capital costs. Another issue may be that the pressure drop across the filters may increase over time as the filters collect dust and other types of debris thereon. As the inlet pressure drop increases, the overall output of the gas turbine engine may decrease. The cleaning efficiency of even a pulse filtration system thus may decay overtime as dust and other types of debris migrate into the filter media element. Eventually, the filters may need to be replaced to achieve the desired pressure drop thereacross.
There is thus a desire for an improved inlet air filtration system for use with pulse filters and the like and methods of use thereof. Such improved systems and methods preferably may avoid the accumulation of dirt, debris, and other types of contaminants without an increased pressure drop therethrough. Overall system efficiency and performance also should be improved in a cost effective manner and with reduced overall downtime.